Arlene Foster to complain over Kilmichael ambush tweet by Sinn Féin TD

ARLENE Foster is to write to the Ceann Comhairle about a tweet about Kilmichael Ambush by the Sinn Féin chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Brian Stanley, a TD for Laois/Offaly, tweeted on Saturday to mark the 100th anniversary of the defeat of the Auxiliaries by a flying column led by General Tom Barry at Kilmichael.

In the tweet which has now been deleted, Deputy Stanley said that the Kilmichael ambush in 1920 and the Narrow Point ambush in Warrenpoint in Down in 1979 were the “2 IRA operations that taught d elite of the British army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland.” 

He added: “Pity they were such slow learners.” 

17 British Auxiliaries, who were based in Macroom Castle, were killed in the Kilmichael Ambush. Eighteen British soldiers were killed at Warrenpoint.

Last night, Ms Foster, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, tweeted: “I will be writing to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil (Sean O Fearghail) about this shameful tweet. Although deleted, it is outrageous that someone with such warped views can hold a senior position in the Dáil. SF talk about respect & equality but there’s not much sign of respect for victims.” 

Deputy Stanley issued an apology through the Sinn Fein press office, saying: “I apologise for the content of an inappropriate and insensitive tweet I sent yesterday.” 

A spokesman for the party said: “We note that Brian Stanley has deleted a tweet that was inappropriate and insensitive, and that he has apologised. We all have a responsibility in this Decade of Centenaries to remember and commemorate the past in a respectful manner.”